Summary:
The Things They Carried is a book about the war in Vietnam. In the book, Tim O'Brien goes on to tell about the things that the men who fought in Vietnam "carried". The things they carried are not only physical, but emotional and psychological. The men carried physical things they brought to Vietnam from back home, also, their many thoughts and burdens. The book is not a single story that starts in the beginning and finishes at the end, it is a book made up of many short stories. There are twenty-two short story-like chapters in the book. One chapter will be set during the war while the next is from years before the war. There is no main character other than Tim O'brien who is telling the story, but there are certain characters that are important in certain chapters. Each person carries things that show their personality. First Lieutenant, Jimmy Cross (platoon leader) carries things like letters and photographs from Martha, a person he loves from New Jersey. Other individuals in the platoon carry things such as comic books, illustrated version of the New Testament, tranquilizers, and a toothbrush. Everyone is responsible for carrying their own weapon which could be either the M-60, M-16, or M-79 dependent upon how big and strong they were. They carried M-14s, CAR-15s, Swedish Ks, and AK-47s on top of the the primary weapons. Their weapons weighed over 100 pounds with grenades. Each man took turnscarrying a 28-pound mine detector. Each chapter focused on a certain time and throughout the book, more and more would be revealed about each character.
List of Members in the Platoon:
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross
Henry Dobbins
Ted Lavender
Lee Strunk
Dave Jensen
Rat Kiley
Norman Bowker
Mitchell Sanders
Kiowa
In one chapter, O'Brien tells a story he has never told anyone because ashamed even twenty years after. One day he gets a notice informing him he has been drafted to the war. He spends the summer working at a pork packing plant and he decides he will not go off to war, so he decides he will escape to Canada. He reaches the border and an old man takes him in and O'Brien lives with and works for this man for six days when the man gives him the option of escaping into Canada unnoticed when he turns it down and returns back to his home in Minnesota. Other chapters tell about experinces the men went through in Vietnam that I will not share because The Things They Carried is a great book I recommend you read.
About the Author:
Tim O'Brien has written many novels about his experiences in the Vietnam War. He was born in Austin, Minnesota but he lived in Worthington, Minnesota during the time of The Things They Carried. O'Brien was drafted in 1968 and served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. He went to graduate school at Harvard University and worked for the Washington Post. Some books he has written include: Northern Lights, Going After Cacciato, The Nuclear Age, and In the Lake of the Woods.
Recommendation:
I strongly recommend anyone to read this book, especially if you take interest in war books. Even if you do not care for books such as The Things They Carried, you should read it anyway because O'Brien does a fantastic job of going into detail about what the soldiers who fought in Vietnam felt and what life was like and how it impacted the lives of people around them. When reading the book, I never had to reread a section or chapter because the author describes in depth everything that is going on: the feelings of the characters, what is going on around them and the mood to each particular part of the book. The most difficult part was getting used to the chapter transitions and keeping separate the character's events with one another, but once I got into the book and got the feel for things, the reading went smoothly.
The Things They Carried By Tim O'Brien
Summary:
The Things They Carried is a book about the war in Vietnam. In the book, Tim O'Brien goes on to tell about the things that the men who fought in Vietnam "carried". The things they carried are not only physical, but emotional and psychological. The men carried physical things they brought to Vietnam from back home, also, their many thoughts and burdens. The book is not a single story that starts in the beginning and finishes at the end, it is a book made up of many short stories. There are twenty-two short story-like chapters in the book. One chapter will be set during the war while the next is from years before the war. There is no main character other than Tim O'brien who is telling the story, but there are certain characters that are important in certain chapters. Each person carries things that show their personality. First Lieutenant, Jimmy Cross (platoon leader) carries things like letters and photographs from Martha, a person he loves from New Jersey. Other individuals in the platoon carry things such as comic books, illustrated version of the New Testament, tranquilizers, and a toothbrush. Everyone is responsible for carrying their own weapon which could be either the M-60, M-16, or M-79 dependent upon how big and strong they were. They carried M-14s, CAR-15s, Swedish Ks, and AK-47s on top of the the primary weapons. Their weapons weighed over 100 pounds with grenades. Each man took turnscarrying a 28-pound mine detector. Each chapter focused on a certain time and throughout the book, more and more would be revealed about each character.
List of Members in the Platoon:
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross
Henry Dobbins
Ted Lavender
Lee Strunk
Dave Jensen
Rat Kiley
Norman Bowker
Mitchell Sanders
Kiowa
In one chapter, O'Brien tells a story he has never told anyone because ashamed even twenty years after. One day he gets a notice informing him he has been drafted to the war. He spends the summer working at a pork packing plant and he decides he will not go off to war, so he decides he will escape to Canada. He reaches the border and an old man takes him in and O'Brien lives with and works for this man for six days when the man gives him the option of escaping into Canada unnoticed when he turns it down and returns back to his home in Minnesota. Other chapters tell about experinces the men went through in Vietnam that I will not share because The Things They Carried is a great book I recommend you read.
About the Author:
Tim O'Brien has written many novels about his experiences in the Vietnam War. He was born in Austin, Minnesota but he lived in Worthington, Minnesota during the time of The Things They Carried. O'Brien was drafted in 1968 and served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. He went to graduate school at Harvard University and worked for the Washington Post. Some books he has written include: Northern Lights, Going After Cacciato, The Nuclear Age, and In the Lake of the Woods.
Recommendation:
I strongly recommend anyone to read this book, especially if you take interest in war books. Even if you do not care for books such as The Things They Carried, you should read it anyway because O'Brien does a fantastic job of going into detail about what the soldiers who fought in Vietnam felt and what life was like and how it impacted the lives of people around them. When reading the book, I never had to reread a section or chapter because the author describes in depth everything that is going on: the feelings of the characters, what is going on around them and the mood to each particular part of the book. The most difficult part was getting used to the chapter transitions and keeping separate the character's events with one another, but once I got into the book and got the feel for things, the reading went smoothly.
References:
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/tttc/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_O'Brien_(author)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP4GaprkAJg
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/8/8f/180px-Thingstheycarried.jpg
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/1a/200px-Tim_obrien.jpg